Friday, April 30, 2010

Each week many of the people who visit the pantry here at Saint Anthony's take time to personally thank one or more of our volunteers for the services that the pantry provides. We value this face to face feedback … hearing a heartfelt 'thank you' while helping in the pantry is very meaningful for our hard working volunteers. And every once in awhile we also get a letter thanking us for what we do … one such letter we recently received is provided below:

St. Anthony's is a vital part of our community. Every week they provide food, clothes, meals to hundreds of people. Many of these people are families. They have helped us personally in a tremendous way. Their selfless genuine care and consideration for the needs of the people are truly wondrous and indispensable. I am grateful for them. We don't have a lot of money and my husband and I have disabilities. I can't say how many times we needed food and they were there. 90% of our food often comes from pantries. They are like family and I don't even want to contemplate how difficult it would be for us if they weren't there for us and so many others. I thank God for them.

It is wonderful to get a letter like this … we are happy to have been helpful to this family and hope to be as helpful for many others.

Saturday, April 24, 2010

This last Thursday at the pantry we were blessed with having student helpers from Bishop Stang High School in Dartmouth and from Saint Francis Xavier School in Acushnet as well as young family members of many of our regular volunteers. It was a delight to have so many additional people participating in the pantry. Where ever you might have looked around the hall at Saint Anthony's on Thursday you could see the smiling faces of our busy student helpers ... moving and setting up food, clothing and baby supplies; preparing meals; bagging fruits and vegetables; keeping the pantry entrance lines moving smoothly and more. We very much appreciate all the enthusiastic energy they brought to share with us and all the hard work they did. Thank you.

Thursday, April 15, 2010

A good time was enjoyed by all who came to the Spaghetti Supper / Sock Hop. Thanks to the food pantry volunteers who cooked a delicious meal and the youth group who are excellent wait staff. The hall was full of excitement. We had some great competitors in the hoola hoop contest and bubble gum blowing contest. Ages varied from 4-64! The Red Sox tickets were won by Peter Phillip from our parish! By the end of the evening we had offers of donations for our next event. Suggestions were made for 50's, 60's, 70's and 80's music next time.

Monday, April 12, 2010

This month and last we are again participating in the national Feinstein Million Dollar Give-a-Way for food pantries. The dollar amount given to each food pantry is based on a proportion earned by the total number of points reported by each food pantry during March and April. We count every item donated for those two months. Each item donated is worth one donation point. Every dollar donated is worth one donation point. Last year we had 12,000 donations and received a check for $293.00. For the month of March this year we are at 7,985 in donations. This is a great start ... thank you. April is our last month for the program this year. Your generosity will be greatly appreciated.

Wednesday, April 7, 2010

We've been busy. During the month of March a total of 645 families received 2,580 bags of groceries at our pantry. Within these families there were 559 children. During March we also served 967 lunches, distributed bags and bags of clothing and also many baby supplies.

Our volunteers (like those shown above) donate a considerable number of hours helping to keep the pantry open and running smoothly. Without their dedication each week it would be almost impossible to serve the families that come in. We are also very thankful to the generous people who support the pantry through donations. Additionally, our new computer system is very efficient, and is more time saving than we had ever expected.

Tuesday, April 6, 2010

Saturday April 10th is our parish’s first annual Spaghetti Supper/Sock Hop to be sponsored by the food pantry and youth group. There will be a wonderful dinner followed by dancing to music from the 50s and 60s. There will be prizes given for the best male and female 50's costume. There will also be a hool-a-hoop competition and bubble blowing contest. Tickets are $10.00 for adults, $5.00 for children (12 and under) and $25 for a family of four or more. They will be available from all youth group members and food pantry volunteers. So get out your poodle skirts and saddle shoes!